6.12.11
I don't believe in ghosts, I do however believe in angels. This Sunday as I was getting my family situated for church being just under the wire (as usual because of so many last minute things this morning) a friend came up to me and asked would you accompany my sisters in sacrament meeting today. I said uhm yes. So I did. I prayed quickly and sincerely for help and my piano angel helped me. In high school when aspiring soloist would ask me to accompany them after at least 10 days of fervent practicing the actual performance was a mess. They would be displeased and I would be embarrassed. In college my roommates were and are very talented musicians. Again I didn't try because they were much much better. Eventually I got to family wards and low and behold there wasn't much musical training and being older and more needed I was able to play. Not many fancy things, although accompanying a young women's choir in our first ward we lived in for a stake conference with a general authority (like PAcker, I think) was a major confidence builder. That's when I began to notice my music angel. someone who helps me play the right notes, to read the right notes, and to get through the songs. Well as my confidence grew my shaking fingers shake less and I am able to do what is needed to help the spirit in meetings. What a blessing it has been and what a nice thing to realize that while you may not have others talents or level of talent you do have talent and it is of worth too.
This week was such a comeuppance. Last week I said we were blissful... as usual with kids spoke too soon. It was crazy and chaos for most of the week but we did do some stuff. On Sunday a kind friend brought me a bouquet from her yard. She does this yearly and it is such an honor and kindness shared with me. She really suffers with allergies and chronic pain and this is her service she gives. Again she is sharing her talent to brighten, lift, and beautify. It is such a great idea one I never thought of. You always here of bringing bread or making quilts or scrapbooking, but her floral arrangements are beautiful and nice to have in a home.
Part of the challenge and goodness of the week was having uncle Jay home. We love Uncle Jay he is #13 in my husbands family and a truly incredible kid. Comfortable to be around, good natured, easy going, straight arrow, who loves to play with and monitor the kids. However, that means the kids are constantly running off to find Jay to play football, or baseball, or chores, or whatever he is doing. This means they are not here doing what I want them to do. But you give some you get some I guess. THis game of ball was joined in by a very helpful grandpa. What a blessing it is to live by grandparents who are so much a part of our daily lives.
I also decided this week- after a crazy Tuesday of getting 80 lbs of boneless skinless chicken, and 33 baby chicks - the irony was almost too much- to can chicken. I did some last year from our own chickens we butchered to make way for the new chickens. By the way that was the best family activity ever, just ask my sons. They loved killing the chickens and anxiously await it again. Anyway I canned 7 qts of chicken, 7 qts of chicken broth that smelled divine. Then the next day just to try it and because I had been so tired the night before and was mentally begging for pizza hut just to not have to cook, I decided to can stew. We live 40 minutes from real fast food restaurants so its not an out and I refuse to serve hot dogs or cold cereal for dinner. So I thought the stew would be handy to just warm up. So I did 8 qts of beef stew and 6 qts of chicken stew. I hope it's good but I felt very accomplished at the end of the day. I like being self-sufficient. I like that my kids peeled and peeled vegetables and I like that I have food on the shelf to bail myself out next time I am too tired to deal with dinner.
Friday the boys had fathers and sons. They were do excited. We packed the car and because of some misunderstandings I had prepared all the stuff for dutch oven potatoes and peach raspberry cobbler early in the morning. I sent Greg with instructions which he read the second half but not the top. SO after cooking both dutch ovens for about 1/2 an hour he thought I should be smelling food. He opened the cobbler to see how much longer, then the potatoes only to find it was empty. I had sliced the potatoes and put them in a large bowl of water. He forgot and so there they sat until he discovered his very hot empty pot. All the fathers got a laugh and he quickly filled the pot. It turned out okay, and I will say my cobbler was the first one gone. It's always nice to know you are doing a good job.
The boys played on the water slide till the sun went down and immediately following breakfast the next day. They also shot off homemade rockets, black powder guns, bows and arrows, and played some football. It was a fun time for all and I'm thankful that Greg made the effort to go spend time with his three boys.
The girls and I on the other hand got to go to my Grandma Corn's and spend the night!! I was so excited and nervous. It's been years and years since I have spent the night but I thought it would be fun. We enjoyed pizza and a movie and were on our way to bed when Uncle KEvin dropped in at 10 so we had ice cream bars with him then the kids went to bed. All were put in bed but only Anna stayed. I discovered in the morning a candy bar wrapper (which is part of being at Grandma and Papa Corns their candy drawer is a special treat that is always well stocked) by her pillow and chocolate on her lips. In the morning after Anna and Grandma took the dogs for a drive/run they drove the dogs ran. We went to breakfast. It was just like when I was a girl. The girls of course had not ever been out to breakfast so were a bit unsure. But after some explaining they would not come again if they wouldn't eat they were pleasantly surprised at how good the food was. It was so nice to spend that time with Grandma and to share some of my favorite memories with the girls.
Saturday we went to another linking the valley mormon wedding reception. Meaning we are now related to all the valley through assorted marriages. It was great! The grooms cake was decorated like an onion because he is an onion grower and seller. And they had soft serve ice cream with sunday toppings for dessert. It was so cleaver, easy, and yummy. It was also great to visit with cousins and friends. I love receptions because of the people you get to see that you haven't seen for ages.
Oh and we or the kids and aunt Alena and Uncle Jay and MAtt and grandma finished the garden. They are shown planting potatoes. It was fun to watch them learn and help their aunts and uncles and hopefully we get a good crop to enjoy all this fall, winter and spring. We are just using the last of the potatoes for the 2010 harvest. We store about 2000 lbs between the two houses and we use just about all of them. We glean, raise our own, and are given potatoes from our cousins. We are truly blessed to live in this valley.
So this week we will continue to twice daily check on our new baby chicks and to learn in our small school sessions. We had a great discussion about how history is altered by oral tradition being the only way of passing it on. It was a great impromptu lesson on the importance of learning to read and write so things stay true and not enlarged or forgotten with re-telling. WE are using The Story of The World which is AWESOME!!! I read the chapter we talk about the topic and do an activity. This week we researched our family history and made replica cave paintings and drew maps of the Fertile Crescent. So easy to teach a little here and there when you have good tools. And like Greg's uncle Blain, we want to introduce our children to erroneous concepts before the school system so we can teach them the correct version and help them understand what is truth and what is error. We were discussing an Egyptian Myth about Osiris (a God) and his brother. It was great to talk about the Gods theory vs our belief in one God and even my 5 year old got it. I'm constantly amazed at how easy it is if we just try a bit more.
Wishing you the best in your sphere and a great summer amidst the chaos and calm. My new mantra is- "Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out." John Wooden.
This week was such a comeuppance. Last week I said we were blissful... as usual with kids spoke too soon. It was crazy and chaos for most of the week but we did do some stuff. On Sunday a kind friend brought me a bouquet from her yard. She does this yearly and it is such an honor and kindness shared with me. She really suffers with allergies and chronic pain and this is her service she gives. Again she is sharing her talent to brighten, lift, and beautify. It is such a great idea one I never thought of. You always here of bringing bread or making quilts or scrapbooking, but her floral arrangements are beautiful and nice to have in a home.
Part of the challenge and goodness of the week was having uncle Jay home. We love Uncle Jay he is #13 in my husbands family and a truly incredible kid. Comfortable to be around, good natured, easy going, straight arrow, who loves to play with and monitor the kids. However, that means the kids are constantly running off to find Jay to play football, or baseball, or chores, or whatever he is doing. This means they are not here doing what I want them to do. But you give some you get some I guess. THis game of ball was joined in by a very helpful grandpa. What a blessing it is to live by grandparents who are so much a part of our daily lives.
I also decided this week- after a crazy Tuesday of getting 80 lbs of boneless skinless chicken, and 33 baby chicks - the irony was almost too much- to can chicken. I did some last year from our own chickens we butchered to make way for the new chickens. By the way that was the best family activity ever, just ask my sons. They loved killing the chickens and anxiously await it again. Anyway I canned 7 qts of chicken, 7 qts of chicken broth that smelled divine. Then the next day just to try it and because I had been so tired the night before and was mentally begging for pizza hut just to not have to cook, I decided to can stew. We live 40 minutes from real fast food restaurants so its not an out and I refuse to serve hot dogs or cold cereal for dinner. So I thought the stew would be handy to just warm up. So I did 8 qts of beef stew and 6 qts of chicken stew. I hope it's good but I felt very accomplished at the end of the day. I like being self-sufficient. I like that my kids peeled and peeled vegetables and I like that I have food on the shelf to bail myself out next time I am too tired to deal with dinner.
Friday the boys had fathers and sons. They were do excited. We packed the car and because of some misunderstandings I had prepared all the stuff for dutch oven potatoes and peach raspberry cobbler early in the morning. I sent Greg with instructions which he read the second half but not the top. SO after cooking both dutch ovens for about 1/2 an hour he thought I should be smelling food. He opened the cobbler to see how much longer, then the potatoes only to find it was empty. I had sliced the potatoes and put them in a large bowl of water. He forgot and so there they sat until he discovered his very hot empty pot. All the fathers got a laugh and he quickly filled the pot. It turned out okay, and I will say my cobbler was the first one gone. It's always nice to know you are doing a good job.
The boys played on the water slide till the sun went down and immediately following breakfast the next day. They also shot off homemade rockets, black powder guns, bows and arrows, and played some football. It was a fun time for all and I'm thankful that Greg made the effort to go spend time with his three boys.
The girls and I on the other hand got to go to my Grandma Corn's and spend the night!! I was so excited and nervous. It's been years and years since I have spent the night but I thought it would be fun. We enjoyed pizza and a movie and were on our way to bed when Uncle KEvin dropped in at 10 so we had ice cream bars with him then the kids went to bed. All were put in bed but only Anna stayed. I discovered in the morning a candy bar wrapper (which is part of being at Grandma and Papa Corns their candy drawer is a special treat that is always well stocked) by her pillow and chocolate on her lips. In the morning after Anna and Grandma took the dogs for a drive/run they drove the dogs ran. We went to breakfast. It was just like when I was a girl. The girls of course had not ever been out to breakfast so were a bit unsure. But after some explaining they would not come again if they wouldn't eat they were pleasantly surprised at how good the food was. It was so nice to spend that time with Grandma and to share some of my favorite memories with the girls.
Saturday we went to another linking the valley mormon wedding reception. Meaning we are now related to all the valley through assorted marriages. It was great! The grooms cake was decorated like an onion because he is an onion grower and seller. And they had soft serve ice cream with sunday toppings for dessert. It was so cleaver, easy, and yummy. It was also great to visit with cousins and friends. I love receptions because of the people you get to see that you haven't seen for ages.
Oh and we or the kids and aunt Alena and Uncle Jay and MAtt and grandma finished the garden. They are shown planting potatoes. It was fun to watch them learn and help their aunts and uncles and hopefully we get a good crop to enjoy all this fall, winter and spring. We are just using the last of the potatoes for the 2010 harvest. We store about 2000 lbs between the two houses and we use just about all of them. We glean, raise our own, and are given potatoes from our cousins. We are truly blessed to live in this valley.
So this week we will continue to twice daily check on our new baby chicks and to learn in our small school sessions. We had a great discussion about how history is altered by oral tradition being the only way of passing it on. It was a great impromptu lesson on the importance of learning to read and write so things stay true and not enlarged or forgotten with re-telling. WE are using The Story of The World which is AWESOME!!! I read the chapter we talk about the topic and do an activity. This week we researched our family history and made replica cave paintings and drew maps of the Fertile Crescent. So easy to teach a little here and there when you have good tools. And like Greg's uncle Blain, we want to introduce our children to erroneous concepts before the school system so we can teach them the correct version and help them understand what is truth and what is error. We were discussing an Egyptian Myth about Osiris (a God) and his brother. It was great to talk about the Gods theory vs our belief in one God and even my 5 year old got it. I'm constantly amazed at how easy it is if we just try a bit more.
Wishing you the best in your sphere and a great summer amidst the chaos and calm. My new mantra is- "Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out." John Wooden.
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